This invention relates generally to the use and control of grinding machines for producing machined parts.
It has been observed that the pivot point location of grinder machine tool heads can vary when maintenance is performed on a machine spindle. The pivot point is offset from the spindle centerline. This offset is unknown and can cause all part programs for a particular machine to become obsolete as the relationship between the pivot point and the machine home position is different. As a result, each grinding program has to be re-programmed. In addition, programs cannot be transferred to other machines, since the offset variation between machines is also different and unknown.
In at least one known system, any change in the spindle offset or movement of a program to a different machine requires a programmer to manually place a machine in a position of each of the operations needed to simulate a production cut. The five axis coordinates of the machine's grinding are then manually recorded and adjustments are manually made to a program to compensate for the new relationship between the pivot point of the spindle and the home position of the grinding machine. The need for such adjustments makes it difficult or impossible to use computer numerical control (CNC) programs for grinding a part on other grinders within a shop having a plurality of grinders without personal attention being given to adjusting the program on each of the grinders.